(Newser)
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Barack Obama sharply critiqued black fathers today at one of Chicago's biggest black churches, the New York Times reports. “Too many fathers are M.I.A, too many fathers are AWOL,” he said to a mostly black audience, including his wife and daughters. “I say this knowing that I have been an imperfect father,” he said, “knowing that I have made mistakes and I’ll continue to make more."

Obama's speech comes 2 days after he backed a bill to to face what he called the “national epidemic of absentee fathers;" the law would police child support payments and boost domestic violence prevention. Today he admitted that Washington has failed to help black dads, but said that "any fool can have a child. It’s the courage to raise a child that makes you a father.”